Game 10. NFL week 3. Denver Broncos 23-3 Oakland Raiders. Oakland Coliseum.

The Mullet had already made it to the Oakland tailgate by 7am, I however was still very much asleep as were my two friends. I spent the night before in San Francisco. Although we up by 8:30am, we got a little lost getting Oakland. There was very little signage finding the correct entrance, and we hit traffic 50 yards shy of the cash lot. We spent a whole hour in traffic before parking up right by the Fanzone.

We were running very late, especially for an Oakland tailgate. It was only two hours before kick off. I wanted my friends to eat, I wanted to cook, plus we needed tickets. We swiftly ran through the fan zone. Something I have never done in my previous two visits to the Coliseum. The band were on, but the real party was at Kirk’s BBQ tailgate.

We found the bus in the same spot it was two weeks ago. Only this time it was filled with perhaps 40 people. Three of whom were knocking back a shot stick, where the three shot glasses are stamped onto a ski stick, so you can all shoot it the same time. Kirk’s BBQ tailgaters had already been firing up plenty of meat. Jay had my frozen Bears mug ready, and I got a teased walking through the party to with my Bears mug.

It was great being welcomed by the Oakland fans again, they always make me feel so welcome. All of them gave me a big hug and welcomed my two friends with glee. These guys have one of the biggest and best tailgate parties in the land and it is always an honour to hang out with these guys. The Australian chap with the blow up crocodile was also there, who I met two weeks ago. I’m not sure if he went back to Australia since two weeks ago, or if he has stayed out here. The chicken, ribs , steak and salmon kept flying from the grills to the plates to peoples’ plates.

Despite there being several T.Vs at the tailgate, I barely watched a minute of the early games. I was too busy talking to people, trying different foods, drinking plenty of beer and downing plenty of shots. All of a sudden the crowd circling the large T.V shot up. The 49ers were beating the Vikings, which is good for my Bears. With just seconds to spare Mr. Favre threw an amazing pass. I had missed the best throw of the season. They replayed it again and again. I was miffed that the Vikings won, but still pleased to see Favre still has it. Favre was about to get sacked when he threw a perfect 40 yard pass to the back of the end zone, which was caught by the Viking receiver, just in bounds. It was glorious, and the Vikings won their third game in a row.

It was at this time the crowd decreased as the Oakland fans headed into the stadium. We still didn’t have tickets and I didn’t have a big budget. Drink by drink the time passed and I totally didn’t realize the Raiders had already kicked off and they were down by seven points. I didn’t leave the tailgate looking for tickets, and I probably should have been far more time conscious.

Two raider fans, (Mother and daughter), went on the hunt for tickets. The stadium was not sold out but they told me the cheapest tickets were still over $50, and scalpers were not selling their spares for much less.

The Raider fans that stayed behind had heard I had been (trying) to cook some good English food on the trip. I got out my ingredients for Bangers and Mash, and went to work on the famous “Grillzilla” grill. I was honoured that I was allowed to even cook on it. Due to my intake of several beers and not knowing how hot the coals were etc, my measurements were a little off kilter. One of the tailgating chefs, Sal gave me a hand to rectify my dish. In the end the “Bangers” came out good, but the mash was way too loose and in the end it looked like runny brown and white soup, not my best work!

Still the drunk Oakland fans liked it, but it certainly isn’t the kind of “grilled” food that goes with the rest of the Oakland menu. Though I like to think I gave them a taste of Britain because these tailgaters have consistently been so hospitable to me.

By now it was past half time and we simply did not have the energy to go and find tickets. We flicked over to the Bears game just for a minute or two, and they were beating the Seahawks. Jay was not happy about that!

Before I knew it the game was nearly over and it was time to leave. I was heading back to San Francisco with friends, and I felt bad leaving Jay with all that mess to clean up! We said our goodbyes and it was so strange spending six or so hours at the tailgate and only watching one or two minutes of football. I felt deprived. But I was so busy eating great food from the “Grillzilla” that I missed all the action.

My two friends had a great time and were mightily impressed with this tailgate party. The vibe is certainly much different to that of the Stanford game the night before. This is a real gritty tailgate, with passionate yet incredibly friendly people. They love grilling up and having a good time.

We found our hire car easily and made our way back to San Francisco. We needed to find gas, but it was tricky to find once we hit downtown San Francisco. The roads are hard to get used to and I wasn’t sure if you can drive on the tram tracks. We were sweating a little to find a gas station, and with just one mile left in the tank, we found one. We ran the gauntlet and won, which is more than I can say for today’s Oakland team who simply got crushed by their divisional rivals, the Broncos 23-3.